Cultural Heritage Sites
- By 2005, the wall paintings on the South wall containing the depiction of Bagrat III were severely damaged in the Bedia Cathedral (10th century). The cathedral is in poor physical condition as the roof is leaking, the walls have cracks and are partially covered in moss, the floor looks like it has been dug and the outer stone cladding has deteriorated.
- In 2007, inadequate restoration works were carried out in the Gagra Church (VI century).
In 2009, a “helmet-shaped dome” was added for the Church of St. George in Ilori (XI century), the facades and Georgian lapidary inscriptions preserved on the eastern wall were painted white.
- In 2009, inadequate restoration works were carried out at the Church of Saint Simon the Canaanite in New Athos.
- The monastery complex of Dranda (VI-VIII centuries) was painted white. In 2011, a reinforced concrete monolithic construction was built over the archaeological remains of the authentic 7th-century baptismal font and was covered with modern tiles. Later, in 2016, the said construction was removed.
The church of St. George in the village of Chuburkhinji has been completely renovated, and painted white, according to Russian media sources, the restoration of the church was made possible through private donations.
- In 2013, inadequate restoration works were carried out in Likhne Cathedral.
- In 2016, the wall in the sanctuary of the church located in the Anakofia Fortress was demolished. According to the director of the New Athos Museum-Reserve, this was done to protect the monument from looting.
- In January 2016, a building constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, located at the intersection of Pushkin and Ayaira streets in Gudauta was demolished without a permit.
- In 2017, the demolition of the historical Turkish bath in the center of Sukhumi began. According to media sources, before the works began, the monument was removed from the list of heritage monuments of the de facto Ministry of Culture of Abkhazia, and the land was purchased by a construction company. The demolition process was vetoed by the de facto Ministry of culture, however, the works were resumed in July 2017.
- In 2017, a multi-layered archeological-architectural site (late antiquity – early Medieval), including a late medieval church, ancient settlement, burial and the nineteenth-century Polish church and cemetery, located near the village of Tsebelda were destroyed in order to clear the area for the construction of a military polygon.
- In 2017 flooding damaged the Kodori Fortress.
- In 2018, the Gulripshi sanatorium was removed from the list of heritage monuments of the de facto Ministry of Culture of Abkhazia. The monument is neglected and in poor physical condition.
- In 2018, the Church of the Mother of God was poorly restored in the village of Vladimirovka.
- In a photo dated 2018, the floor in the additional wing of Ilori Cathedral is covered with blue ceramic tiles.
- According to Russian media sources, in 2019, the dome of Mokvi Cathedral was damaged and the church needed urgent restoration.
- Zemo Ghumurishi Church (19th century) – in 2019-2020, the roof of the church was replaced, and in the recent pictures, the use of era-inappropriate mortar is visible in the interior of the church.
- Church of the Annunciation of Okumi (19th century) – on the pictures dated 2021, the interior of the church shows era- inappropriate mortar. The same can be seen in the photos taken in 2023.
- The Church of the Epiphany (19th century) – the photos of 2023 show new PVC windows of the church and a new balustrade inappropriate for the era in the interior of the church.
Archaeological Excavations, Black Archeology, and trafficking of artifacts
- In 2013, a late antique silver rhyton from the village of Achmarda, dated from the fourth century, appeared at the Sotheby’s auction in Great Britain.
- In 2015 evidence of illegal archaeology was also observed in Jantukha tomb site.
- In July 2016, three citizens of Russia were arrested for illegally excavating tombs in the village of Achmarda. This was the first case of arrest of illegal diggers in the territory of Abkhazia.
- In 2017, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the de facto government of Abkhazia, Vychislav Chiribka, published photos on social media showing artifacts from the village of Khasufse displayed in the Hermitage Museum in Russia. According to the artifact descriptions, the museum acquired them in 2001 from a private collector.
- In 2018 during agricultural work in the village of Achandara, a local resident discovered a tomb. He handed over the findings to the museum, according to Georgian archaeologist Zurab Bragvadze, it was not possible to organize an archaeological excavation until the following year, when the archaeologists arrived at the site, they found the tomb area empty.
- In 2019, the archaeological excavations in Tkvarcheli that had commenced in 2006, were completed with the involvement of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and tombs and remains of two settlements were discovered.
- In 2019, excavations were carried out in Ochamchire with the involvement of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and golden jewelry was found.
- In 2019, excavations were carried out by an amateur archaeologist on Dzhiva and Khimsa mountains.
- In 2020, an Iranian vessel was found in the village of Shubara by accident. According to Zurab Bragvadze, archaeologists discovered that this area had also been excavated.
- In 2020, traces of black archeology were found in the Cibilium, a fortress in the Kodori Valley. A video shot at the site shows pits and pottery shards left by the excavation.
- In 2020-2022, with the involvement of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, archaeological excavations were carried out in the village of Merkula.
- With the involvement of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in 2021, a sarcophagus was found in the ancient city of Gyenos, on the territory of the modern city of Ochamchire, its conservation and restoration were carried out, and the sarcophagus was transferred to the State Museum of Abkhazia.
- In 2022, a shrine of the 6th-4th centuries, figures of Egyptian and Greek deities were found in Gyenos, with the involvement of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- According to information in social media from 2022, archaeological excavations and restoration of the church were carried out in the village of Anukhva with the involvement of experts from St. Petersburg, Russia.